Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Donna Downey Class Review!!

Hi Friends!  I've been enjoying my blog break, but I wanted to pop in and post about my 4 day art class at the Donna Downey Studios in Huntersville, NC, that Cindy and I went to this past weekend!   We took the "Inspired Artist" class, which is a TERRIFIC choice if you want to learn about A LOT of techniques and mediums.  We learned about and used acrylic paints, oil pastels, pan pastels, gelatos, stencils, watercolors, image transfer and a wide array of mediums like tar gel, molding paste, glass beads, etc. and even stamp carving!


I'll jump right into the journal pages we created with some showing beginning to end.  Others are 'work in progress' pages. (This will be VERY PICTURE HEAVY!)

Donna allows you to just play with everything in the studio.  It gives you great freedom to experiment without worrying about how 'much' you are using. The first night at the studio we just created some backgrounds.

This is modeling paste over stencil:

Acrylic wash with pressed plates:

Modeling paste and Pumice gel medium over stencils

The next day we learned about acrylic paints and continued to work on our backgrounds and keep building layers:


One goal of mine for the class was to learn how to make 'her' poppies and she was so accommodating!
Here's the transition from my background to my finished piece:






She taught us that the art will talk to us and we'll be able to 'see' our backgrounds come to life. 
This definitely worked as I transitioned THIS:

to THIS:
I was able to 'see' the flowing lines of hair in the black squiggles of my background 
and turned it into a she-art girl. (This is one of my favorite journal pages)

I did love the oil pastels too!
(And Gesso is your friend).......because this mess of a background:

turned into THIS:

Now - I didn't fall in love with every technique (and my hubby and wallet were happy about that!)
Pan Pastels are not for me.  It IS amazing what can be done with them, but I didn't connect 
with this, but here is my 'before' and 'after' using an inspiration picture:


 Here's another oil pastel over a modeling paste stencil:

And more acrylic paint work:

The final day we put together our journal using the personalized canvas cover she gives every student (along with a bunch of tools in another canvas holder.  The paintbrush picture was an image transfer she taught us about and then we each decorated the front.  This could be one of my favorites from the class too!

Here we are with Donna :)

Aside from the class itself - this was a very well-run experience. Bill, Donna's husband, was great via email before getting down to NC.  Checking on our flight times, hotel info and any dietary restrictions.

Bill picked us up at the airport and brought us to our hotel. No need to rent a car - which was great!  The hotel is even walking distance (1.2 miles) from the studio - so Cindy and I walked two mornings to class, but Bill comes and gets you everyday if you don't want to walk!

Donna's mom cooks lunch and dinner for us two out of the 4 days and even brunch on Sunday.  The class all goes out together on Saturday night to a local restaurant (via huge limo) - lol



There is no need to leave the studio either.  There's coffee, tea, sodas, beer/wine, candy, etc.  And if there IS something you need - they are happy to go get it!  The gals in class were great too and from all over! Even Camila from Brazil!!!!!!


I do truly recommend this experience. She has a wide array of classes and guest teachers too!  Now, I just have to decide which one to take!

Thanks Donna & Bill :)

Don't forget to 'Like" my Crafty Cre8tions Facebook page, where I am posting my work to now :)

Thanks for your visit!



4 comments:

jimlynn said...

Maria, I know y'all had so much fun and learned a lot too! Looks like a great group and good times! Love all the creations you did!!! WOW!!
Lynn

Lynn McAuley said...

What absolute awesomeness, Maria!!

Karin Åkesdotter said...

WOW!!! This must have been so much fun! LOVE what you made and am very envious (-:
TFS Hugs!

Audrey Pettit said...

Oh, I'm so sorry I've missed a couple of your recent posts, Maria! This workshop you went to looks like it was an amazing time. Isn't Donna fun? Years ago, when the scrapbook store I worked at was still in business, she came and taught some classes for us. It was really fabulous! :)
I just sent you a FB message...not sure how often you're on there, though, so I thought I'd let you know..

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